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I found myself north of Indianapolis one afternoon after receiving a call that went something like, "Hey, aren't you the guy that buys old BMW's?" On the family farm, Bruce had been storing all sorts of fun projects that one day he hoped to bring to life. Life, however, was moving faster than his slated project timelines, as it often does. He had a gaggle of E30s that needed to be rehomed, that had been sitting out in a field for quite some time (that were the initial reason for the call). The cars had unfortunately turned the page from restoration candidates to parts cars, and I was happy to let my garage be their final stop. After discussing how E30s are my one true love, he thought I might like to see a car he had hiding in the barn. Before opening the barn doors, he made sure I agreed to keep the car's home a secret. As we slid the doors aside, light revealed a Riviera roundie Tii, complete with a dust and guano baste. The "will never sell" words were spoken on first gaze, so I took the car in as if it were a watch in a window that I would unfortunately never obtain. The car was forgotten, but not gone. This car gave me the 'tingle' that I hadn't felt for a while, after becoming acquainted with the punishing art of buying old BMWs over the years. I thanked him for showing me the car, and asked him to consider my interest, should the time come when the car needed a new caretaker. He assured me it wouldn't, and that he would keep me in mind. Fast forward a few years, and the time came. I made arrangements to meet back up and put eyes on the car again, this time with more scrutiny than awe. It became quickly apparent that I had work to do, when phrases like "it ran when parked" were being used to describe the car. As I dismissed each conjecture, reality was slowly exposing itself. I left him with an offer to consider, a game plan for extraction, and a handshake of pleasantry. It is at this point in the story when some of you likely became aware of the car's existence. A normal afternoon coffee with a side of Facebook Marketplace turned into heartbreak, as I laid eyes upon MY beloved Tii posted in a slew of different 02 classifieds groups. A vague ad and some bad pictures trapped users in the comments. In the following weeks, all of my bimmer friends near and far called me to ask about a "roundie Tii hiding in a garage outside of Indy", as he offered the car to everyone in his contacts, hoping to extract a higher offer than what I felt was right. I was devastated, and figured that I had lost the car. I tried my best to put it out of mind and pull it together as I had to reassemble my "hoopty" '89 325iS for a trip down to the Vintage. One successful Vintage trip later, complete with breaking in a new M20 stroker motor in 2.5hrs of traffic on i75 S, and I was headed back home. While cresting a mountain pass heading out of Hot Springs, the bimmer gods showed their mercy on me as my phone lit up with a text from a familiar 317 number that read "we have a deal." I was ecstatic. A few days and a hand shake later I went back out to the farm and became the owner of a '72 Tii, complete with a parts car. That's about where we're at. Extraction has been delayed several times. I wanted to wait until I had both of the cars at my house to make this thread, but was feeling motivated to type this up today, so that will be an entry for a different day. -Bobbie

These past months have been filled with planning and hunting for key components to move my EV conversion of the 1971 Roundie know as Phaedrus forward. I've been following auctions for wrecked Leafs to source both the electric motor and battery pack, with a focus on the 2018 or later models that feature the third generation ZE0 motor stack with a 110kwh inverter and 40-62kwh battery packs. This newest motor offers 147HP and 236 ft/lbs of torque across the entire power band, which would give the conversion substantially more oomph than the stock motor I've pulled. I landed one from a salvage yard between Boston and Providence a couple of weeks ago and made the 10-hour roundtrip trek to haul it home to NJ. I've also been busy organizing a new kind of cooperative group called electr0motiv to make classic car EV conversions faster, easier and more affordable by working together. We're also calling the collaborative approach an EV Builder Guild because part of the mission is to facilitate learning, training and knowledge sharing so that more people can develop skills to do EV conversions. The idea is that a network of regional cooperatives can help convert DIY into Do-It-Ourselves, and make the conversion process more social and fun. For now, we're functioning through a Facebook group -- which you all and anyone you know who may be interested are welcome to join. Meanwhile, with the stack back at home, I enlisted my college and high school age sons on XMas day to help me hoist it out of the Ford Flex and get it into the garage. I also broke the motor stack down, taking off the Powder Distribution Module on top, and the reduction gear box off the back of the motor. That will make it a little easier to test fit the motor in the engine bay. The plan is to connect the motor directly to the four-speed manual transmission, via a frabricated coupler and an adapter plate. Utilizing the manual transmission will enable the right RPM range to the drive train -- otherwise I would require some other kind of reduction gearbox. The one I took off the stack is intended for the front wheel transverse configuration in the Leaf. Procuring a battery pack with 40kwh or more of capacity is the next big challenge. Along with it is the work to fit that capacity into two battery boxes split between the trunk and the engine compartment to preserve the 2002's weight balance. While there is some weight reduction gains from the motor swap, exhaust and gas tank deletion, the batteries are likely to weigh between 600-800 lbs, so there may be some need to beef up the suspension with both the slightly greater gross weight and the significant power and torque gains. Other big considerations are the Vehicle Control Unit and Battery Management System boxes needed to talk to the inverter to send power through the system and to manage the batteries and charging systems. I'll also need to find solutions for electric heating and a vacuum pump to replace the brake vacuum booster. As always I welcome input, feedback, ideas and support on how to accomplish this conversion, on everything from figuring out how to mount the motor stack in the engine bay to leads on a battery pack or the other components needed to get this 2002tee back in the fast lane. What's more, this new EV Builder Guild needs smart folks like those in this great community to grow the group and bring along their restoration expertise and technical gumption. Happy New Year!

As per title here’s some pics of mine. Bought it few years back with shifter. Had to modify shifter base to accomodate height to engage all gears. Connection rod needs to be parraller to gearbox in order to function properly. Also due space available i had to mount it backwards. Does not change function thou. Reverse gear lever needs to be pushed by palm but it’s not hard to get used to. Asked what oil i need to use. Answer was ”oil”. ”But don’t use red line”. I quess it leaves internals b&€*s to clean up when it’s time for overhaul? So i went with Comma 85W-140. Have worked well with it. I had to fab up guide tube for throw out bearing - some lathe time sortetd that out and i needed to grind some room for Getrag clutch slave cylinder - no biggie. Can be flat shifted w/out clutch although i tend use clutch and be gentle with it. Gear change? Eats from the hand. Very nice box. Heavy yes but should be strong.

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 Pedal set I fabricated, with hinged gas pedal I just wanted to record the effort and maybe it can help someone else looking for ideas on how to do it way better than my hack version. The stock gas pedal is held on by little metal ball studs or "nubs" and they fail over time. I had to replace the section of floor pan anyhow so I needed a new gas pedal mount. I decided to make a new aluminum gas pedal and a hinge mount and might as well make some matching pedals for the brake and clutch. I bought a 12"x12" plate of 1/4" thick aluminum. I cut out a piece with the jigsaw and made it a little larger for heel-toe downshifts and a better look. My cheap angle grinder did a great job finishing the edges. A drill press was all that was needed to perforate the pedal. I considered simply using grip tape but wanted to try something I hadn't done before. A larger drill bit to carefully countersink the holes worked out well. A good sanding will take out the scuffs. All ready to go. A couple more blanks were cut out for the other pedals, and I rounded the edges with the angle grinder. The stock pedals are curved for the bottom pivot pedals. I put the blanks in a vice with some carefully placed steel rods and I got a bend I'm pleased with. Time to drill out some more holes. So after having some success with the gas pedal I (stupidly) decided to change my method for hole location on the brake and clutch pedals. I didn't use a scribe nor a punch to locate the holes as I thought I'd still do a good job. This was a bad idea as I messed up the placement of a few and had to fight to get it to look "good enough". I can do another batch later but there's too many projects I'm trying to finish up. I did take a few minutes with the grinder to taper the bottom of each pedal so that there was a more continuous curve on the pedal's surface. I'm hoping this helps with the foot feel as well. Mounting is straight forward with a hinge bolted to the floor. Heck, one of my metal nubs was a replacement bolted through the floor. A bearing from my son's old fidget spinner fits perfectly on the gas pedal rod. Don't look at those nasty welds... at least they hold the floor in... Finished Product

I’ve reached the light at the end of the tunnel on my rust repair journey. Over the week I replaced the lower driver’s side rear 1/4 window sill with new metal. I used a technique coined by YouTuber, Fitzee called butt & cut. Some of y’all have probably seen his videos. All that’s left to do is epoxy the exposed metal and then flip my car around so I can begin installing the passenger side flares. Original metal with lots of pitted rust and pinholes. 🤮 New patch panel being tacked in. Finished patch replacement. I’ll have to hammer and dolly some areas and finish with body filler, but no more rust!

Most of the car is in epoxy now and I’m just trying to get the panels as straight as possible within my skill set. I had a huge (3/4”) panel gap between the right front fender and the door. My solution was to add some length to the fender with some fiberglass. I had no issues with the drivers side. How she sits now. No before photo of gap but here is the fiberglass extension. Gap closed. The guide coat makes it look larger at the bottom. A couple weeks ago it was too hot to work in the garage, so I moved progress indoors and replaced the seat inserts of one of my OMP Classic seats with a fabric by one of my favorite mid century designers; Alexander Girard. I think it gives it a vintage Motorsport look. Lastly, I tackled the interior sound deadening. I used the dry ice method and it was pretty easy. I used 30lbs of dry ice and filled 3 large ziplock bags. Let it chill for about 25 minutes and banged away. Easy-Peasy. IMG_3503.mov Till next time! Jason

So jumping back into one of the many projects that goes into restoring our 2002. The heater box. Last I posted, it was looking like this: I got the kit from PRDesignsf....great kit. Wish it included the nuts/bolts to attach the heater valve to the box. But a trip to Ace fixes that. PRDesignsf PRDESIGNSF.COM Specializing in BMW 2002 Heater Boxes It was in pretty rough shape but a quick vac and wash it was ready for plastic repair and paint. I chose to paint the metal parts instead of plating them. Not sure if that was smart, but we'll see. Also hit the body of the box with some paint after thoroughly cleaning it. Reassembly was pretty strait forward. Getting the heater valve rebuilt was a little difficult. Mostly because of the corrosion of the screws holding it together. I was afraid of breaking it while taking it apart! It cleaned up well The fan still works so I cleaned it up as best as I could and the new cables that came in the kit installed. I'm still putting this together and should be done later today. While I was at it, I also freshened up a Rock Island 571 vise a friend gifted me. All it really needed was a good cleaning and paint. It's not perfect, for example there is a crack in the base, but it doesn't keep it from being useful. But to be expected from a vise made during WW2. I'll tear it down again one day and weld the crack. For now, a shot of John Deere tractor green will do. I'd been without a vise since moving into the house. So this is a great addition to the shop.

OK, it's been a while, but the road to the next milestone, (firing the motor) is getting shorter. In the last post, I had some things that needed solving, how to marry the passenger side heater core hose to the bigger connection on the back of the head and other issues like throttle cable linkage and installing the driveshaft. I happy to report that most of those issues are resolved. Coolant Connections I needed to connect the passenger side heater core to the back of the head and the upper radiator hose to shortened coolant pipe. All solutions were found on Amazon. I had the original hose out of the back of the head, found a 3/4 to 5/8 hose barb fitting reducer and used it to connect the 5/8 heater hose from the heater core. The upper radiator hose was trickier, the connection to the coolant pipe was 36mm and the radiator upper connector was 32mm. I found silicone 38mm hose with a 90 degree elbow bend and a 32mm hose with a 90 degree elbow bend, cut them to size and married them together with a 1.25" to 1.5" coupler/reducer. Transmission/Driveshaft This was more challenging than it needed to be. First off, the car had originally been set up for a Getrag 245 5-speed. The factory mounts had been cut off and rewelded in the transmission tunnel. So easy, just use these existing mounts. No so fast, the original owner was probably using a "dangler" shift platform, because the lower brace setup on the Blunt 5-speed shift platform was interfering with the transmission mount on the driver's side. I thought about cutting out the repositioned factory mounts, but ended up modifying the lower brace that attaches to the trans, slotting the mounting hole so I could move it up to clear the transmission mount. The transmission support was fabricated from a piece of "C" Channel stock I bought at Home Depot. I slotted the support bar mounting holes for some adjustment and also slotted the hole for the rubber transmission mount (E3). When the transmission tail was lifted up, it sat pretty much in the middle of the tunnel, but the shift platform was pushed to the passenger side. With the slotted, hole for the rubber transmission mount I was able to move the transmission closer to the driver's side of the tunnel and center the platform. Now the easy part, just install the driveshaft, NOT! I had purchased this pre-shortened driveshaft from IE years back, but had never tried to install it in a car. I installed the metal alignment Guibo from @halboyles at 2002sOnly on the driveshaft and bolted it to the output flange of the Getrag 245 and then attached the center bearing to the frame to see how square and level the front section of the driveshaft was sitting without any shimming. Turns out it was pretty square at the stock position, but I added a larger fender washer under the E3 rubber transmission mount to lift the output flange slightly and it sat perfectly square. I swapped out the metal Guibo for the OEM rubber one, loosely reattached the center bearing and moved back to the differential connection. Nope, the driveshaft was about 3/8" too long. I loosened the 4 nuts holding the differential to the subframe and loosened the nuts on the differential hanger and pushed the differential back as far as it would go, still about 1/4"too long. OK, maybe I can get the motor to move forward 1/4". I loosened the motor mounts (swapped the driver's side motor mount completely out because the metal cup was installed facing the wrong way), and pushed the motor forward as far as it would go and retorqued the motor mounts. The differential flange and driveshaft were square, but their is a 1-2mm round ridge in center of the driveshaft shaft flange that still would not clear. I finally removed all the large 19mm bolts and nut holding the differential to the subframe and managed to slide the round ridge into the mating cup on the differential. I torqued the Guibo nuts, the driveshaft to differential nuts, the differential to subframe nuts, the differential hanger nuts and finally preloaded the center bearing and bolted that in. While I was under there, I noticed that the front sway bar was nearly touching the passenger side strut, while the driver's side had a 3/4' gap. I loosened all the sway bar attachments and used a rubber mallet to persuade the sway bar to an even position between the strut tubes. Retightened everything and breathed a sigh of relief that the drivetrain was finally complete. Brakes and Clutch In my last blog post, I mentioned my bonehead idea of connecting the clutch slave cylinder hose to the clutch master and promptly cross threading the fitting. OK, so while I was struggling with the transmission and driveshaft, I decided to correct my mistake. I pulled the clutch master, put it on the bench and used a M10 x 1.0 tap to clean up the buggered threads in the clutch master. For the fitting for the clutch slave hose to the master, the M10 x 1.0 Die wasn't threading straight, so I purchased Metric thread restoring file and used it to clean up the fitting. I attached the clutch master to the hose fitting under the car and then installed the clutch master back in the pedal box. Now that all the connections we good, I filled the brake fluid reservoir with fresh Dot 4 and used my homemade pressure bleeder to bleed the brakes and clutch. Everything was going great until I noticed a small pool of brake fluid under the rear subframe. The hard line fitting from the rear splitter to the passenger side control arm soft line was leaking under pressure. I used a "crows foot" to hold the soft line fitting so I tighten the hard line fitting and the leak stopped. It didn't take long to get the air out and the brake pedal was firm. The clutch was quick and easy, no leaks or drama. Throttle Cable I have done a number of throttle cable solutions for my cars over the years, (mostly Lynx, based on the TEP solution). The S14 conversion is a little challenging because the throttle lever pull in up on top of the motor and I'm not using the stock air cleaner. So I decided to fabricate something that should give me a working throttle until I come up with something better. First I had to straighten the "Z" lever for the gas pedal, so removed it and beat it into shape. I found some metal pieces at Home Depot and used my angle grinder to fabricate a plate that attaches to the top 2 studs that hold the brake booster to the brake booster support. I then bent that plate to fold over the brake booster and give me a spot to weld on a bracket to hold the cable that connects to the throttle lever. The other bracket is just an "L" that attaches to passenger side of the pedal box support structure that attaches to the brake booster support. I attached a cable fitting to the end of the throttle lever on the pedal box, ran a wire through the sleeve between the two brackets I fabricated, and attached the other end to throttle lever on the ITB's using a barrel fitting to hold the wire. It's not the best solution, but it works and I did manage to get it to pull WOT with the stock components. I may rework it with a Bell Crank, but after I get this thing started. Steering I did manage to get the missing horn ring installed and then installed the steering shaft and my 320i Sport Steering Wheel. I tried to order a new shroud for the Sport Wheel because the PO broke off all the plastic pieces holding it to the wheel and tried to glue it on. Turns out that these are now NLA and I did find one in Europe for $200, so I might be regluing mine as well. Of course when I put everything together and tried turning the wheel, it would not turn. I knew I would need to hammer on the down header of the S14 in order to make enough room for the top of the pitman arm nut at the center link to clear the header on the passenger side. I was thinking about why the car steering wheel wouldn't turn and had a epiphany! Maybe the Steering Wheel is LOCKED! Turned the key, Steering Wheel turns, what a dope! I spent the afternoon hammering on the S14 header, man that thing is stout. Eventually, wheel turns lock to lock in both directions. Next Up Electrical systems test Thanks for checking in! Mark92131 IMG_3803.MOV

From 10' this does not look like a car in need of disassembly, blasting, and repainting. Looking back, I'm still questioning my sanity. With ~ 80% of the disassembly complete, I'm very glad that I'm doing it! Feel free to comment or DM me if you have any questions. I'll be happy to share additional pictures and share anything I learned on the way. Dec 16, 2023 Rolling the fenders (and found some bondo on the right rear ) 1/2/24 And not sure how I missed this one I bought the car (although having flown to Boston to drive it home, I'd prolly have still bought it) The passenger floor was replaced, but generally, the car still seems very solid) Disassembly started. I'm really liking the QuickJacks 1/7/24 Debating filling in side markers 1/11/24 Beltline removal terrible, but not fun 1/11/2024 Interior removal started 1/11/24 1/12/24 Door cards bright covering of rain gutter (terrifying!) 1/21/24 2 week sidetrack (I needed the room in the garage) to assemble woody cap that my stepfather had created 20 years ago, but didn't complete before he left us. Amazing craftsmanship! 1/27/24 Did some hot laps in the cul-de-sac to make sure tires no longer rub:) 2/3/24 Hotlaps lead to brakefluid sprayed all over engine bay(?) This was my last time driving the car with current setup, so wiped it down and moved on. More interior coming out 2/3/24 Why 2 different sound deadeners (?) All the beltline trim is off. I think the knee trim is glue on. Gonna break out the heatgun to remove it. Later 2/7/24 Lots of progress (about 5 hrs effort; thank goodness for heated garage!) Removed drivers seat (Recaro; from pair I bought from @esty and upholstered, including heat (will do another post on that), turn signals, boot lid, boot lock (after this pic) rocker trim. 2/10/24 Coming down the home stretch Removed quarter windows and trim (thanks @Mike Self for the pointers). Kinda stressful, but got it done. I taped the windows to keep them from falling out while I unscrewed them. Definitely enough rust lurking that I'm glad I'm taking it all apart for paint! Also removed speaker wires and most of the rest of the carpet. 2/11/24 Windshield, dash, and sunroof out 2/12/24 Put the old steelies on to avoid getting paint on the Rotas. Removed the passenger side window in the door - fought with the cotter pin for 1/2 hour only to realize I'd read Haynes wrong and didn't need to remove the cotter pin I was skeptical about Hayne's suggestion to use a wooden wedge to drive the exterior trim off the door but it worked! 2/13/24 Removed passenger vent window, door strap 2/18/24 Removed rear window, headliner, sunroof tracks, door handles, drivers side door parts. Swapped Momo for original school bus wheel Headliner was no fun and took a lot longer than I thought. Roof is very rusty; lost of surface rust and a layer of scale:( 2/19/24 Pulled the wiring harness out of the trunk and up to dash. Removed the last of the carpet and the cardboard underlayment. Need to tackle the sound deadening now that I've decided to blast the whole car. Found some unwelcomed rust:( 2/22/24 Getting ready to take the engine out! Removed the battery, headlights. Started on underhood wiring harness removal. Unbolted exhaust manifold! Never easy. Never fun. 6 of 8 studs came out instead of nuts. I've had worse, but it was still an hour fight. Also applied Citristrip Gel to the trunk and wrapped it in saran wrap. Fingers crossed 2/23/24 Drained the fluids, removed the intake, starter, and head. I used my milwaukee shop vac in reverse to evacuate the radiator and block. That worked pretty well! Citristrip seems to be doing its job. I scraped an area with a plastic paint scraper. I'm so looking forward to a clean uniform color engine bay! 2/24/24 Engine is out 2/25/24 Removed front fenders, headlight buckets, heater box, hood latch rod and parts. 3/2/24 Engine disassembled (leaving crank in for machinist). #4's had a broken piston ring Brake booster out 3/4/24 Corded impact wrench zipped that pulley nut right off! Working my way through wiring harness removal Removed pedal box Quite the rodent nest on the frame rail next to the pedal box! 3/8/24 Finally got the wiring harness out of the car! The trick was finagling the fuse box arrays through the hole into the passenger compartment and disconnecting the ignition wires and taking that bottom hole harness into the engine compartment. Scraped off most of the firewall insulation Removed the gas tank and found a big rust hole Remove the driveshaft Mostly removed the exhaust Used Citristrip to remove paint from right rear quarter and found bondo. Was pleasantly suprised that @BLUNT stocked the rear quarter patch panel and shipped it the same day I found the issue!! 3/9/24 3/22 Used 2 ratchet straps and a couple pipe wrenches to pull apart the exhaust. It's fairly new. I'll prolly keep the resonator and get a less restrictive muffler. Removed some of the last bits still on the car (trans brackets, trim clips, washer sprayer nozzles, A and C pillar foam 3/23 Boxed up most of the parts to store 'til post paint (will recondition a lot of them while waiting) The rest of the paint on the trunk lid pretty much fell off. Leaving Citristrip on for almost 3 weeks didn't seem to bother the primer, but made the paint supersoft. 3/26 Started taking up the sound deadener with a multitool Removed the battery try. Ground down the welds / near the welds with a cutoff wheel so pretty much took it off in one piece Haven't updated in a bit. 5/1 Designed an under seat battery box and had if fabbed by sendcutsend.com 5/2 The nuts and bolts of the rear brake lines are completely seized, including the nut that's welded to the floor under the seat that holds the tee - which has more air surrounding it than it's supposed to Ground off the paint and found that the bond is not as bad as I thought - and it was just as skim coat over a sketchy welded patch. I have repair panels to replace the area with. 2D64CB3A-5792-4EFC-896A-6F0B421F45A0_1_201_a.heic

Parts have arrived, and it didn't take long for me to test fit the ITBs.. They're beautiful! The red string in the photo is the beginnings of the wiring harness layout. Unfortunately the carbon plenum won't fit over the brake booster.. Do I delete the booster or cut and mold a notch into the plenum? The EMU Classic will sit above the tunnel on this aluminum bracket. I pulled these injectors (0280150440) off an M52 from the junk yard.. not sure they'll work but I used them to wire up the injector sub harness. https://www.injectorplanet.com/products/bosch-0280150440-bmw-13641703819 These LS coils are also from the junk yard Next up will be figuring out a cam position sensor and the complete wiring harness.

Another couple of smaller, but very important projects are now complete. I now have a good, rebuilt starter and a rebuilt steering box, and a refreshed (and hopefully good) Distributor. Let's assess the parts I had...First, the starter was old, crusty, very large and very heavy. The distributor...just needed to be cleaned (I hope). The steering box, dirty, oily, obviously leaking (scroll down below). Starter: On a previous Tii that I did some work on, I replaced the starter with the popular M3 upgrade, the Bosch SR440x. Most of the typical parts houses were long out of stock or were charging too much in addition to a core charge that I wouldn't get back (since I didn't have the same starter to return as a core). The other common upgrade is the Bosch SR441x from an e34 535i/M5, e24 635csi/M6 or e32 735i. These are the late 1980's to early 1990's vehicles with the M30 or S38 engines. The starter is about the same size as the M3 starter, a little more powerful, cheaper and easier to find. I wanted to save a few dollars, have a little more confidence about the rebuild and have some fun at the same time, so I decided to source a used starter from a junkyard and rebuild it. So, I found a used Bosch SR441x starter from a 535i for $55 shipped on Ebay. Here is what I ended up with, for about $55: Not too crusty, but definitely in need of a complete refresh. I watched a few Youtube videos on rebuilding similar Bosch starters and felt confident enough to start cracking it open. My plan was to open it up, clean everything really well and assess the condition of the parts, especially the bushings, solenoid and gears. Here are some pics of the internals after disassembly: For the most part, everything looked pretty good, especially after cleaning (dang, I didn't get any pics of the solenoid). I did pull the solenoid out, cleaned and polished the plunger with some steel wool and polished it up. I cleaned up all of the electrical connections on the solenoid and tested it and it worked great, so I didn't see the need to replace it. Besides, the Bosch solenoid looked newer than the rest of the starter, so it was likely replaced at some point. I did see a couple of issues. The brushes were pretty worn and the plastic retainer for the planetary gear set was severely cracked and about to disintegrate. I found a great website will all the parts I needed (www.aspwholesale.com). I ordered the planetary gear retainer, new brushes, new end bushings and a new case gasket (about $45 shipped for the parts). In the meantime, I got everything cleaned up and painted. The new replacement parts arrived quickly and I proceeded to reassemble the starter, lubricating everything as I went. Here is the completed, rebuilt Bosch SR441x starter. I tested the starter and it worked great. Total cost, right about $100 and no core necessary. Tii Vacuum Retard Distributor: I am hoping the stock Tii distributor will work well. It was just dirty and gummy, so I wanted to take it apart, clean it and reassemble it. I am not calling it a rebuild, as I didn't replace any parts (other than points and condenser). Here it is prior to disassembly: First you have to remove the points plate. There are a couple of screws and the arm from the vacuum unit. As you can see, the vacuum arm is missing its e-clip. After removal of the felt oil pad, you can see the distributor shaft below. You need to remove the springs on the inside with some needle nose pliers. Some light prying under the cam plate will pop the plate up off the shaft (I used the hole where the condenser attaches to get a tiny screwdriver in there to pry up. There is a spring clip in there, so make sure to have everything covered when you pry up to avoid losing the clip. I didn't get any pics of the inside with the cam plate removed, but it all just needed to be cleaned, then reassembled. I added a little Marvel Mystery Oil to the shaft upon reassembly. Soak the felt pad with fresh motor oil. New points and condenser, and a new O-Ring just above the distributor gear. I cleaned the housing and polished the vacuum unit. Looks good...hopefully it works good. Steering Box: I pulled the steering box out, knowing it needed some work. It was dirty and oily, and was obviously leaking. I was planning on replacing the seals and the top cap, and reassessing everything else when I had it apart. Did I say it was crusty, oily and dirty: A little cleaning and....still needs more cleaning. Pulling it apart is fairly simple. First you have to remove the top locknut and the four hex bolts to pull the top cover off. The cover is threaded on the roller gear center shaft, so you have to unscrew the cover from the shaft once the locknut is removed. Two bolts and two socket head bolts pulls off the side cover where the worm gear is accessed. There are several thin, square, metal spacers under the cover. Be sure to separate them and clean them well. Once the covers are removed, a few taps with a rubber mallet from the bottom of the main shaft will pop it out of the box. Be careful as you pull it out to not let it hit the worm gear. I cleaned it up and inspected it, and it looked really good. A few taps with a rubber mallet on the input shaft on the side, and the worm gear assembly will come out. Be careful, as there are bearings, races and washers. Make sure to take note of the assembly order. Here are all of the parts removed, and cleaned. New seals installed for the input (pic below) and output shaft (no pic, sorry) Worm gear in place... Rest of the assembly is straight forward. Don't forget all of the spacers. New Hypoid Gear Oil and it's ready to go!

1 Peter 3:15but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; I had these items hanging around collecting dust for the past few years. I set aside some time to get them finally installed. Electric Fan and Silicone radiator hoses from Ireland Engineering. The fan is wired in with a relay attached to switched power from the horn relay. I wrapped the wires in Temflex tape to match the wiring harness. A few hoses needed to have 1/4" or so trimmed off of them to fit perfectly but the hose kit included nice hose clamps so everything went in very nice overall. I spent a little time flushing out the cooling system and the heater core, which is just good maintenance. I will do an additional flush of the cooling system after running it a few cycles and then it should be pretty solid. In order to install the electric fan, other than the relay wiring, The stainless steel front panel from a dishwasher I replaced was used to make a bracket that bolts onto the radiator mounting bolts and the fan. Overall it took me longer to install everything than I thought it would but it's also been 104 degrees and I've been stealing an hour here and there to get it done. I finally took a good part of a Saturday to finish up the wiring and harness wrapping.

I finally pulled the trigger on a new set of wheels & tires. The Borbet's that have been on the car for years were supposed to be temporary, but as priorities shifted they stuck around. I never really liked them, and they definitely do not fit the style of a 2002.. Yesterday I found some 14x6 Mahle BBS RA119's with tires (185/60/r14) on Facebook market place and jumped on the deal. They were missing the center caps but I've got some on the way. (Thanks @butteiful) I couldn't be happier! And the before shot:

First I measured center line for both chassis. And rear axle line for both. So rear wheel would be in correct position in regards to 02 shell. This was very time consuming. Lowering and alingning 02 on top of E85 floor to see where to cut next. Then winch 02 up to make room to work. Back down again, aling. Repeat. When I got to about 5 cm from touch down I found out that my support cage was getting in way. I had to make cage to outside of 02 chassis and remove tubing from the cockpit. This was also important bcz I wanted to be able to weld roll cage roof tubes all around before I mate the two chassis. I wish I had done this from the start. Oh well it is what it is. And we have a touch down! 02 chassis on correct level on top of E85 floor. Phew! Very early on I knew that rocker panels would be an issue. They don't match 02 at any level. This needs to be sorted next.

Now this took awhile. Dismantling was pretty straight forward. But removing all that factory chassis glue/sound deadning was rough. Well got my neck & arms trained. Btw cars wire loom weights about 50 kg. Some rust spots had begun to developing under plastic panels inside wheel arches but nothing major. Getting this chassis on the table by self was sweaty task. Two floor jacks, two by fours, plywood bits and sweat. No blood was spilled. Measured chassis dimensions and they all checked. Now was time to level chassis and fix it to the table. Bolted front cross member back and welded braces from that to table. More iron to hold front upper suspension towers in place. In rear turned some parts and welded rear axle carrier points to table. Also rockers got welded to table about every 10 cm or so. Rear trailing arm pots got supports from table. Chassis rails got supports to table from FCAB fixing locations. And of course rearmost downward structure got fixed to the table. Should hold it in place. I hope, we’ll see. Point of no return closes in. Plasma torch is whispering…

Here is victim I sourced for 1st trial/mockup. To my defence shell had donored some sheet metal parts and it had had minor LF accident + someone had started some guestionable rust repairs. So it was kinda ruined already.

Long overdue to write something down but here I go. Things started to happen in 2018. In a quest to get better suspension geometry for 02 race car and all good things that comes along I started to investigate the subject. I had bought myself two E30 M3 rear axles earlier. Now my current front end works pretty well but rear seems to be harder to grasp - atleast for me. At this point I was thinking of replacing current 02 based rear axle with something a) not hacked b) more modern to start with. 02 rear axle design was penned, what, late 50's or early 60's? So no E30 stuff albeit it can be made fast. Next thought was it could be something that has more modern engineering behind it. So then I sourced all aluminium E39 sedan (lightest version of those mind you) rear axle. After some more investigation I came to conclusion that while it's plausible there are some issues regarding wheel control and I abandoned this route. More thinking was required. At that time I had driven two E36 race cars and one of them was M3 version. Now those things handles quite well I must say. So how to put E36 axles to an 02? Front wouldn't be that much of a problem but the rear. Now there is some challenge to be honest. But the thought persisted. Internet is your friend (at times) and look and behold: E85 Z4M has almost the same axle base (2497 mm) than 02 (2500 mm). Normal E85 Z4 has more difference (2494 mm). Pretty darn close. What if I take whole E85 floor with axles (all in correct factory places) and just put 02 chassis (sans floor) on top of it? Now that's neat idea! Lets roll with that. Soooo where to get dirty cheap, no accident Z4? RHD's are cheaper than LHD's so where are lots of rhd cars to choose from? In UK! But Brexit was looming over so I had to act quickly. Me and my buddy bought plane tickets to London and off we went. Had looked the market and made contact with one seller. Car had to be in shape for a long road trip. First car had some issues with documents and I called next potential seller. Off to other side of London to meet him. The car was ok, nothing major so we did the paperwork and I bought that car. 2003 Z4 2.5i with about 186 000 km's on clock was mine. Seemed that we had some brake bads, fluids - enough, tires had air - road trip here we go! At London about to view first car. This was 24.7.2018 1st stint took us from London to Dover. It was pretty late and train was booked and no ferries avaiable. There was one room vacant in Dover so we took that and spend the night there. Next morning tickets to ferry and to France. Near Dover docs. No way to cross over to main land. Dover by night. About to board. In a ferry to France. Bye UK. From ferry we hit the road and I though what's wrong with these ppl as evereybody was driving so slowly. Took me few km's to figure out that I was driving by miles rather that km/h. Now that calmed things down. Long story short next Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. Pitstop in Germany. I think. Another stop. I think this was Denmark. Next night in northern Germany. Then Danmark, we had time to visit a small viking boat museum at Ladsby. Nice sunny day & icecreams. Then to Sweden. Sweden. Somewhere between Malmö and Jönköping. Morning in Stockholm. Waiting to get to ship. We were about to sleep in car near Mantorp but Z4's aren't that comfy so that was a bust. Drove all night to Stockholm, bought tickets to a morning ship to Finland, got in and crashed to bed as soon as it was possible. Next day was last stint to hometown. All and all it was 2520 km trip in 5 days. The car worked just fine all we did was we put more gasoline in it at times. What a nice car to drive. I enjoyed every minute that I was behind the wheel. Home sweet home.

Building the wiring harness was arguably the most difficult part of this project so far. I'm using a flying lead kit from ECUMaster which definitely made things easier since the wires are color coded and labeled. Here's the shielded sensor wire termination & junction with the sensor ground. Shielded wires made up the base, then I started twisting the first layer of other inputs, ground and 5v. '' Coil and injector wires are the top layer. I got eager with the Raychem shrink wrap and forgot to add service loops by the ECU 😑 This bus bar collects all the ground wires, then connects back to the chassis & negative battery cable from the trunk in a star point fashion. Overview of the work in progress. Lots of clean up to do of the original wires & fuse box area. Cam, CLT, IAT, Oil Pressure & Temp, Fuel pressure, ICV and a few others here. 02 sensor, coil wires and the factory oil pressure signal.

This subject has been covered a lot, but after searching through dozens of posts, some key questions never seen to get answered. My car originally had Klippan's installed front and back. I originally thought about finding a nice set of Klippan seat belts and installing them for the originality, but couldn't find a set that was nice enough and had all the original hardware, covers, hooks, etc. While searching the endless posts on Klippan seat belt installation, I determined that there is no roadmap for the combination of bolt lengths, bolt types (shoulder, full thread), washers, wave washers, bushings, covers, bolt caps, and hooks needed to install the Klippan seat belts, because the Klippan system isn't covered in RealOEM. So I needed to move on from that option, which takes me to my next issue. Many have converted their Klippan system to the "no-weld" Peacock method by mounting the 3-point retractor under the back seat and using the 2 original Klippan mounting points (below the rear side window and on the rocker between the seat mount and the rear seat) to connect the other 2 belt mount points. I didn't go this direction because I felt the belt would sit too low for me (6'3") and the anchor connection on the rocker between the seat mount and the rear seat would interfere with access to the back seat. So this leaves me with either a generic 3-point solution or something OEM like a Repa. Both will require adding anchors to the "B" pillar and on the rocker directly below the "B" pillar, but I am good to go on that front. I found some 7/16-20 fine thread spot weld nuts that I will weld directly to the "B" Pillar and rockers to provide anchors for the seat belts. I ended up drilling 13.5mm holes in the "B" pillars exactly 42mm above the bottom of the rear side window frame and 13.5mm holes in the rockers directly below the anchor point on the "B" pillar. I'll weld these anchors in next week. See test fit picture below. Now here's where it gets confusing. Everyone references RealOEM for how the hardware is arranged for mounting seatbelts in the car. It does provide some details on this hardware, but not important aspects like the size of the NLA bushings and what material they are made of. The most perplexing issue with RealOEM, is it doesn't show where the retractor fits in the stack of 10 hardware pieces? Does it sit between #17 and #18 bushings in the RealOEM diagram? I have also found that some installations have a plate that keeps the retractor vertical to the "B" pillar anchor with tabs that fit in slots on the back of the retractor. Is there a part number for this plate? I will probably be asking Santa to bring me a set of TRW / REPA seatbelts from Germany. I've been a pretty good boy this year, Thanks, Mark92131

I promised myself that before I started messing with the ECU setup and the related electrical systems to support it, I would sort out all the electrical gremlins that were original to the car. Little did I know that was going to a lot harder and take longer than I could ever imagine. When I hooked up the battery for the first time after completely removing the wiring harness, I had some pleasant surprises and some "what the hell" moments. First off, when I turned the ignition key for the first time, lights on the dash lit up and the wiper motor started running and not parking. You could tell it was trying to park, but the momentum would take it through the park gap and it would restart and park again. I unplugged the wiper motor and started going through the electrical system. Headlights The headlights on the early cars are not wired through relays for the low and high beam operation, but I thought why not upgrade! I found a super easy fix for adding relays by ordering a pre-wired solution on Amazon that plugged into the driver's side headlight socket and provided relays for both low and high beams. I just connected a ground wire, mounted the relays and connected the passenger side headlight socket. Pulled the headlight switch, low beams came on, pulled the dip switch on the steering column, high beams came on, the blue dash light came on, everything working correctly! Flashers I mounted my emergency flasher switch in the hole on the lower steering wheel shroud that normally houses the manual choke. With the ignition off, pulled the emergency flasher knob and the knob started to flash and the front and rear turn signals were flashing and the turn signal indicator in the dash was flashing, all good here! Turn Signals This is where things started to go south. When I signaled for a right turn, I might get single flash or a couple of flashes and then nothing, and nothing on the left turn, nothing at all! I had read that if the emergency flashers work, then the flasher relay was probably good and something else wasn't working. Well the flasher relay was original and the cardboard on the back was torn in half, exposing the circuit board, so I started with an EL-13 Flasher upgrade. I bought one off of eBay and a relay harness, wired it up and plugged it into the stock flasher relay connector. Nope, still no turn signals. OK, let's check the turn signal switch!. Pulled off the upper and lower covers on the steering column, pulled the switch, got out the multi-meter and checked the continuity between pin "54" and the "R" and "L" pins. The "R" was good, but there was no continuity between "54" and "L". Tried cleaning it, still no good, bad switch. So back on eBay looking for a replacement. Wow, pricing on used parts is getting stupid high! I finally found two switches on German eBay at a reasonable price, but no shipping to USA. I tried contacting the seller, but crickets. In desperation, I reached out to @Seb on the FAQ and asked him for a favor. He agreed to purchase the switches for me and ship them to me in the US. I can't thank him enough for helping me source these parts. A couple of weeks later they arrived. I check the continuity on both switches, all working properly! I installed and connected one of the new switches, turned on the ignition and pulled the switch, nothing, now what? After checking and re-checking the wiring diagram, there had to be an issue in one or all four of the inter-related systems that controlled the turn signals (Emergency Flasher Switch, Flasher Relay, Turn Signal Switch, Ignition Switch). I eliminated the Turn Signal Switch, because I just checked it, and worked backward from there. In order for the turn signals to work, power needs to get to pin #54 on the turn signal switch. I tested this with the ignition on and got nothing on pin #54, so something wasn't working on the flasher relay or the emergency flasher switch. I decided to pull those 2 components, remove the wires, re-verify the connections and clean and re-crimp all the connections. The "AHA" moment was the connector to the flasher relay, it was really dirty and loose. I popped the female spade connections out of the plastic connector and cleaned them up and squeezed them for a tighter fit. When I was all done, right and left signals worked, flasher relay clicked and the light in the dash flashed, all good right? Not quite, this car, like the Euro cars has a parking light feature, which allows the user to illuminate the right or left side of the turn signals when parking the car on the side of the road in the dark. The bad part of this feature is that one can accidentally set it during the day and not notice and come back to a dead battery. It runs off power through the ignition switch and operates with the key off. For some reason, my parking light feature wasn't working. Ignition Switch So, in order to get the parking light feature to work, I need power at the turn signal switch pin "P" with the key off. I checked the continuity of the wire "grey" between the ignition switch and the turn signal switch and it was good. So, maybe the switch was bad? I bought a used one from @BLUNT just in case, and pulled the existing switch to inspect the wiring. Well none of the wires were on the right terminals, except for the "grey" one. I put the red wires on the "30" terminal, green wires on the "15", black wire on the "50" terminal, and the grey wire on "P". With the ignition off, pulled the turn signal stalk down and the left turn signals came on, moved the stalk up and the right side turn signals came on. I may wait until the used ignition switch arrives and compare the key position detents between the 2 switches and see which one is better before buttoning the dash up. Wiper Motor Back to the wiper motor now that the turn signals are sorted. I pulled the wiper switch out of the dash to test the continuity in the various positions. Pin "53a" the blue/green wire is always hot with the ignition on, it provides power to the green wire on the motor. When the wiper switch is pulled out to the first (slow) position, there is continuity from "53a"to pins "53" (black wire) and "53b" (yellow wire). When the wiper switch is pulled out to the second (fast) position, there is continuity from "53a"to pin "53" (black wire) and NOT to"53b" (yellow wire). This didn't make a lot of sense assuming the yellow wire was the slow circuit, so I assumed the switch was bad and only pin "53b" should have power in the first (slow) position, so I bought another switch I found on eBay. I also begged @AceAndrew to sell me one of his spare wiper motors just in case mine was bad, and he came through as always. While I waited for the new/old parts, I tested a couple of old wiper motors I had that I assumed were bad because the yellow wire (slow circuit), would not spin the motor when power was applied, but would when the black wire (fast circuit) was powered. When just the green wire was powered, the motor would spin, but you could hear the motor try to park as it spun past the break in round parking mechanism. Duplicating the conditions of the switch, I powered all three wires (green, black and yellow) and found that the motor would spin slowly. I pulled the yellow wire and the motor spun faster. I powered all three wires again and then pulled the black and yellow together, simulating the switch being pushed in to off, and low and behold, the motor spun a second and parked. So why was my wiper motor running when I turned on the ignition? Well, it was turning because it wasn't in a "parked" position when the green wire got power, and the momentum of the motor kept taking it past the break in the round parking mechanism. It also had a break in the hair-thin yellow wire that connects inside the windings of the motor, but I didn't discover this until I installed the new motor. With the new motor installed, I turned on the ignition, pulled the wiper switch to the first position and the motor began to spin slowly. Pulled the switch out to the second position, the motor spun faster. Back to the first position, the motor spun slower and switch pushed all the way in, parked and stopped. All good? Not so fast... Windshield Washer Pump & Delay Relay On the early cars, the turn signal switch stalk operates the windshield wipers and the windshield washer pump by pulling it towards the driver. This action grounds the Delay relay which triggers the windshield wiper motor to activate for 10 seconds, and also grounds the windshield washer pump so it squirts fluid on the windshield. Pulling the turn signal switch stalk towards the driver did nothing on my car. So I started testing the system components starting with the Delay relay. My car was missing this relay when I bought it, but I managed to source a used one, but never tested it. I checked continuity to pin "31b" from the ground wire on the turn signal switch and it was good. I built a quick bench test with a relay connector, a light bulb and my 12V power supply to test the function of the delay relay and it was working great. I also bought a delay relay replacement for the courtesy light in a Dodge that also works well (stays on a little longer than the BMW unit. Hit me up if you have the same issue and I'll get you more information. https://youtu.be/nHdE3jCRns4 With the Delay relay sorted, it was time to look at the pump motor. My VDO washer reservoir was not typical. Instead of having a hose connection and nubs on the bottom to hold the pump platform, my pump motor screwed directly into a hole in the bottom of the reservoir. The motor was toast, with power through it, it would not spin. How was I going to find a replacement, it obviously wasn't a BMW part. Technology to the rescue! I downloaded the Google Lens app to my iPhone, took a picture of it and up came pictures of the exact motor. Turns out it fits many Ford and Dodge models from the 70's, so I ordered a replacement for a 1970 Thunderbird from eBay. When it arrived, I screwed it into bottom of my VDO reservoir and hooked it up to the Delay relay. When I went to test it, I would pull the turn signal stalk and after a second delay the wiper motor would engage, run for 8 - 10 seconds and stop, but I couldn't understand why the washer pump motor wouldn't run for the 8 - 10 seconds. Typical operator error, I finally realized that you must pull and hold the turn signal stalk to run the washer pump motor until enough water was on the windshield and then when you released it, the delay relay would let the wiper motor run for an additional 8 - 10 seconds. DUH! Miscellaneous While I was waiting for parts, I did manage to install my oil catch can. On the S14, the OEM Oil Separator sits on top of the bolts for the driver's side motor mount. I removed the Oil Separator, but still needed a solution for the valve cover vent. I took the stock hose that runs from the valve cover down to the oil separator and cut it in half. I plugged the cut end with a 10 A/N barbed fitting and then made a custom 10 A/N hose to run between the 10 A/N barbed fitting to the 10 A/N fitting on the oil catch can. Turn out nice and matches the oil cooler. On to the Fuel Pump and ECU Testing and Setup. Mark92131

Been dreading this, but finally got around to it this weekend, which motivated me to start a blog and post the prior pictures. I got TIG welder, but still haven't practiced with it. So, when it came to filling the holes left by removing the diving boards, I was hoping for another route, since my impressing is filling holes with a TIG is not entry level. I found this great video on how to fill holes with solder and was hopeful. I had also found a similar one from MuggyWeld, but using a torch, which didn't seem ideal near the gas tank. So, I did a mash up with a Weller soldering iron and MuggyWeld rod. It was a bit of a learning process and the holes are not filled perfectly, but I'm happy with the results. If you're considering this, here are a few tips: Use a larger bit to countersink the hole (to create a bevel for the solder to not push all the way thru) Wipe down the surface - inside and outside with acetone or a degreaser Tape pennies or a piece of copper behind the hole (ideally there will be a little gap between the penny and the inside sheet metal so that some of the solder goes outside the hole. Between the bevel on the outside and the overflow on the inside, the solder is less likely to pop out) I also used welding magnest to hold the pennies in place Use a wide tip on the soldering iron Flux the hole (or maybe use resin core solder) I didn't use flux with the muggy weld solder and for about 1/2 the holes I was able to pop the solder out with a little pressure. I should have known better. With flux, the solder really bonded with the sheet metal Tin the area, let cool a little Melt the solder on full and then use lower setting - or even release the trigger) to smooth the solder Not perfect, but good enough

Short recap to the history of my 02. Original M20 motor swap was done in 2005 at Casey Motorsports in Petaluma, California. We did it in a weekend and was a quick and dirty install. I left the original M10 exhaust and used that for... 18 years. I can't believe it's been that long, but it's been that long. I've been wanting to get another exhaust for some time now and since arriving in the Netherlands a new friend told me he could do it. I then started to look around for a header and found a Black Friday deal on Schmiedmann BMW for 200 euros. The only issue, it was for an e30 not an 02. When we finally started to fit them into the 02 we initially thought we'd cuttem up and reshape, but in the end Wicher of Summa Garage in Purmerend heated them super hot to bend them into place. They look great and definitely look better than chopping them up, in my opinion. This took the most amount of time and there were complications of course. So after a few set backs the headers eventually cleared the steering helper and he could start in on the center section. The whole system looks like a piece of art, way more so than I was expecting. After 18 years, I pulled the trigga and this is what I got! d123ab76-cdc7-445a-8bd8-346fd7498c15.MOV It definitely sounds healthy. (Hopefully the video works.) And yeah it was worth it

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 Sloppy Handbrake The stock handbrake on the 2002 may have been adequate when the car was brand new but after 44 years it's a bit worn out (I feel the same!). The side to side play is the main issue. The handle wiggles side to side quite easily from wear at the pivot/hinge pin. When engaged the side to side play allows pressure to transfer to the single plate side mounts which can fatigue and crack. If the mounts are cracked the fix is rather simple, but time consuming... if you have a welder. Weld up the crack and even weld on a second layer of sheet metal to beef up the bracket. My mounts were not cracked so I could hat I did is what many have done before, just documenting it here. I bought 2 thrust bearings from VXB.com You can buy versions on ebay for less than $10. Just look for 17x30x4 Thrust bearings where 17mm is ID, 30mm is OD and 4mm is overall thickness. VXB thrust bearings 17x30x4 . Specifications for this item from web Bearing Type Roller Bearing Brand Name VXB Inside Diameter 17 millimeters Item Diameter 30 millimeters Item Weight 0.480 ounces Number of Items 1 Part Number Kit8537 UNSPSC Code 31171507 These are needle roller bearings and will help resist side play of the lever while allowing it to pivot easily when pulled. Installation was easy as others have also detailed on forums etc. 1. Press thumb button and tape it down 2. Remove nuts from brake cables 3. Remove pivot pin (Mine already had the 14mm bolt and nylock nut) 4. Remove lever enough to slip on the thrust bearings. 5. Slide it all back into place, insert the bolt and nut. 6. Enjoy smooth, solid brake lever for around $15. Tape down the handbrake button Remove brake cable nuts Remove pivot pin or bolt Remove the handbrake enough to slip on the thrust bearing 17x30x4 thrust bearings They slide back into place easily, reset ratchet piece and install bolt. Now you can enjoy a tight handbrake and and easy/direct pull. Spray some white lithium grease on the bearings and ratchet mechanism and then reinstall.

One of the things that will need addressed on this car is rust. It’s really not bad. The passenger front fender and rocker need some work. The pillars have older repairs that seem solid even though there is some pitting. I don’t think I’ll worry about those for now. The drivers floor has been repaired poorly and needs fixed. I usually get cars with more rust, so this is a nice change. The body is also fairly straight.

I had a very busy and productive day today. The pillars on this car are pitted and have some rust repair from someone previous. I decided that it was solid enough and just needed some cleanup and attention. I started by hitting everything with the wire wheel to remove rust and old paint. After that, I worked on cleaning up the old welds and trying to get things smoother. If it’s going to have booger welds, they’re going to be my booger welds. Once cleaned up, I went through the POR-15 process. I haven’t used this stuff before but it went well. I didn’t take pictures of the process. The battery is mounted in the back. The car didn’t come with a battery tray or cables. This seemed like a good solution as we might autocross this car in Vegas once in a while. There is no rust in the trunk at all. And finally, it runs. We fought with it a little while. All it would do was pop and cough. The points were shot as was the distributor cap. I have apart parts for my Beetle and was happy to see they fit. I put new points, cap, rotor and plug wires. We rolled it to TDC and found that the rotor wasn’t pointing to where we thought #1 was. The rotor was pointing to the firewall, so we made everything match and it fired right up. The idle on the carb was way off and it rev’d pretty quick, so I choked the carb and shut it down. Sounded great though. Next, carb rebuild kit is on the way. I need to look at brakes and clutch hydraulics.

This is my first 2002. Not my first restoration. I come from many years of Volkswagens. I’ve always admired 2002s but didn’t think I’d ever have the opportunity to own one. Well, now I do. According to BMW Groups Classics, “The BMW 2002 VIN 2574805 was manufactured on June 14, 1971 and shipped on June 16, 1971 to New York, NY. The original color was colorado, paint code 02.” I’m going to use this blog to record my progress. I do t know where I’m going with the car, but I’ll figure it out as I go.

I seem to always dream up wacky and out of the norm adventures to average person. For those of you who are also 02 obsessed you are most likely of the same nature. Before embarking on my journey I really didn't know what to expect. I had a friend who was going to ride shot gun with me, but then due to a family emergency couldn't make it. Bummer. I have to admit I was a little timid for a brief moment and wavered whether I should go, but there is no tomorrow; less thinking more doing. Once I got myself back on track for planning my solo trip I reached out to the Norge 02 group on Facebook. All the members were supportive and gave tips where they could which I found so very helpful. (Thank you Norge 02 Group!). My journey started on June 17th and concluded on the July 1st. I wanted an adventure and I got one. Sunday morning before arriving in Kristiansand, Norway. HollandNorway Ferry Packed in like sardines, preparing for unloading in Kristiansand, Norway Southern Norway with a goal of getting to Stavanger to meet up with Johannes. Roadside Assistance! Thanks Johannes Johanne's clean 02. Incredible generosity and hospitality. Not only did Johanne's help adjust my wheel bearing he and his wife invited me to stay. Truly grateful. First hella long underwater tunnel of the trip. I would have hated to be behind me with my exhaust! One of the many ferry required to reach my destination. Often times I'd adjust my travel plans based on speaking with other people on the ferry or at campsites. These views are everywhere, but felt compelled to take advantage whenever I could. The reward at the end of my day. The beer wasn't as expensive as I'd read. Granted it is expensive, but just a bit more than in the Netherlands. Took the train in Flåm up the mountain. This is a massive water fall that the train stops at on the way up and down. Took a side route that got me off the main highway, wasn't disappointed. The true adventure begins. Camped most of the trip, unless is was raining cats and dogs. The costs varied, but affordable. Little cabins were also available, but you'd need to call ahead to reserve. Was recommended to check out this very unique boutique hotel in Laerdal. Johannes Einemo has created a motorsport focused hotel that was built in the 1800's. The classic stying and vintage feel made me feel right at home. If you are anywhere near Laerdal, I'd highly recommend going to stay there. That there is a real spare Testarossa motor. Better than keeping it in the garage where no one can see it. The bar on the side of the hotel reminds of something you'd find at the Nurburgring. If you notice on the ceiling above the bar there is a small door. That door is for passing beer upstairs so you don't have to come down. Awesomeness! Twists and turns galore, but short lived... This camper blocked the road in both directions. They did their best to "try", but I decided to take a different route. Bummer. On Kristan's recommendation I took this little independent ferry, which was tiny in comparison to the others. Only 3 cars onboard. Fast slow going This was awesome to get up to altitude and due to being late in the day it was empty. Had heard that you could go skiing up on the mountain so went to check it out. Didn't ski, but next time I will! Glacier skiing at it's finest. Just missing the ski rack. Can you recognize this spot? Look at how small the cruise ship looks from up here. It's the highest drivable motor parking lot in Europe. Not often I drive my 02 to frozen lakes. Climbing out of Geiranger Fjord. The Trollstigen, just before descending into the valley. Dooood, how dope does that look??! Recommended to drive it in the evening to avoid buses. I stayed at the first campground I could find and this was it. Sven invited me over to check out his very clean almost complete project in Ålesund. Thanks for having me over Sven. Makin Norwegian friends! Ålesund, Norway Yet another ferry crossing. Heard about this little town that had a bunch of of WW2 bunkers. The site was closed, but this was not such a bad place for lunch. Initially I wasn't going to try and drive this road, but I was so close I had to. It's pretty short, but definitely scenic. This is the first dinosaur bridge on the Atlantic Road. Starting to head back South to catch the ferry back to Emden, Germany. These types of churches, Stave Churches, have survived since the Middle Ages. Incredible that they still stand. Fun! I didn't stay when I rolled through the first time and when I had chance to spend the night in their "Garage Room" I had to do it. Taking the whole experience in at the Laerdal Hotel. Even from the toilet you can see your car! Bedroom views! What a rad experience! Johannes knows how to make something unique. I can't wait to go back. The "Garage Room" used to be a butcher and still has many of bits inside from that time. Small cues that do not forget the heritage. This is the old port in Laerdal. You may have seen some photos of Magnus Walker here. Doin the good work. Johannes and Erik puttin in the time to clear out the old window factory walls to make more parking space! The plan for this space is car store, restoration and body/paint. In the middle of the building they want to put in a bar that has glass on all sides so you can watch what is happening. So dope. Laerdal Tunnel - Longest car tunnel in the world. Oh oh, this isn't good. This really isn't good. Makin more Norwegian friends I was stranded and had to hitchhike to get to my rental car. I stood out there for a long time. My parking garage for the next month. My insurance which is great, sent up a transport to bring her back to the Netherlands. After picking up my rental car I stopped by to see Torleif. This is only one of his BMWs and the work he does is impeccable. Thanks for having me over Torleif! Handed over the car keys to the rental and getting ready to board the ferry back to Emden, Germany. Decent room and only 19 hours to get back. Too bad this service recently went bankrupt. I'm seriously lucky to have gone already. I heard over 75,000 people have lost their money. What an amazing adventure. The people, the scenery, the roads, the breakdowns... it's all part of the story and feel very lucky to have these types of experiences. I can't say enough thank yous to the all the people who helped me along the way and especially before I left. Jeffery Kok was an essential part of me being able to do this trip! Without his expertise and advise I would have been stuck. Hope it wasn't too long and boring for you to get through. If you made it to the end here, leave me a comment. Look forward to meeting other 02ers in future adventures across Europe! Peace, Evan

So cuz it was cheap. A lie of all lies right? I bought a seized engine out of 2021 F40 BMW M135i xdrive, 225 kW. Will this jorney ever lead to fruitation as in means of suplying a force to move a vehicle I do not know. I consider this a mental health project First i stripped wiring harness and a few water hoses off and then it was time to remove oil pan for inspection. Rod bearings were toasted! #3 was worst. Mains looked fine but this was just caps off so no idea of upper shells. Bottom ones are red (extra layering for start/stop feature so they’ll take abuse better). So immediately i binned oil pump. After getting bottom end ”loosened” engine is still solid. Pistons have made out with bores? Connection rods are dead. Crankshaft? Maybe dead too, we’ll see. This one needs a way more special tools than M10…

So I haven't posted in a while because after the Euphoria of installing the motor came the depression of all the tasks that lie ahead. I still haven't installed the driveshaft, mainly because it takes two people and my brother has been busy with his Triumph GT-6 build. Other sources of depression were self inflicted, as I was staring up at the transmission and thought, may as well hook the clutch line to the clutch master and promptly cross threaded it. Just more things to fix! Ford EDIS-4 Wiring Now that the motor was in place, it was time to finish wiring it up. I made three Deutsch connector harnesses so I could quickly drop the engine without removing connections to 4 bus-bars on the firewall. 1 connector handled injector power and triggering, 1 connector handled power and signal and grounds for the TPS, PWM ICV and MAP, the 3rd picked up all the remaining sensors, (IAT, CLT, sensors for 3 aux gauges and instrument panel gauges, oil, water temp). I ran the VR Sensor output separate from the engine harnesses because of the shielding requirement. With careful planning upfront, every wire had a home, so this task only took about a day to complete. Of course, I'll get around to testing it later. Coolant Water Pipe Shortening Once the engine was in, it was pretty apparent that the coolant pipe above the exhaust header was too long to support a hose connection to the radiator. All the cool boys and girls chop out a 40mm section of this pipe to correct this issue. I could cut the pipe no problem, but my TIG skills are non-existent, so I found a welder in the area and paid too much to have this done. Cleaned up the rewelded pipe, primer and paint in Hammered black and it was better than new. There are 4, 22mm x 2mm o-rings that need to be replaced before installation, 5 days later they arrived and I installed the shortened pipe. Thermostat Installation Now that the coolant pipe was in place, the thermostat can be installed. I have a box of spare hoses and cobbled together the pieces I needed to make the three connections, (coolant pipe to top of thermostat, thermostat to water pump, bottom of thermostat to bottom fitting on radiator). Some trimming with an Exacto knife and we were in business. My box of assorted hose clamps finished the job nicely. Spark Plugs When I order the 22mm x 2mm O-rings for the coolant pipe, I ordered 2 sets of spark plugs (Bosch and NGK) for the S-14. I also ordered the Hazet spark plug socket at the same time from Amazon, (wow, very expensive part). I pulled the original plugs, (Bosch), looks like the motor was running rich and replaced them with the new Bosch set. I didn't want to change out the 8mm Mallory spark plug wires or cut them and install new distributor boots, so I ditched the spark plug loom and installed them on the EDIS-4 Coil pack on the firewall. This should work for initial startup and I'll look into something more elegant later. Remaining Tasks I still need to figure out how I am going to marry the passenger side heater core hose to the bigger connection on the back of the head. To make matters worse, the connection on the back of the head is just below the Deutsch connector for all the wiring to the ECU. I'm still trying to figure this one out. The driver's side connection is straight forward for the heater core. I ran a new booster hose from the intake to the brake booster and installed the one-way valve. Both the fuel lines are connected. Next week I'll be fabricating a throttle cable linkage so I can test and calibrate the TPS. As soon as I finish these tasks, I'll install the steering wheel, driveshaft and prep the car for initial start. Thanks for checking in, Mark92131

It's been a while since I've posted about the restoration/restomod of Betty. Work slowly progresses when I have the motivation to do it....it hasn't completely stopped! We had a couple deaths in the family. Took a trip down New Orleans for a wedding and caught Covid on the way back. Stuff. Works been very busy and life in general got a little complicated. Jo and I have also been busy with the remodel of the master bedroom/bath. All consuming. So, this project has taken a back seat. The rear subframe with new disc brakes are on with new bushings etc. Stuck on rebuilding the differential. Have been for a while now. Issue is getting the old bearing races out. Once that is done, I can get the completed subframe back onto the car and get the front done. I'm working on the harness again since I'm hemming and hawing now on whether to stay carbureted or press on with converting to fuel injection. EFI would be so cool, but now I'm thinking I'd love to get her back on the road soon and decide on that later. Front subframe is waiting for bench space to clear up and the interior is in boxes... What's on my other workbench is the heater core. Found a rats nest in it. So it's been totally taken apart, cracks fixed and a reinforcement kit installed. All new foam and gaskets. I'd read that the rebuild kit for the heater valve isn't the same as the original and could leak. If you've experienced this please let me know. Would like to hear how it went. That's it for now, more to come soon!

BMW used two different clock designs on the Tii. The earlier model (used up until 1973) is the Kienzel clock, which is electromechanical. It uses a mechanical clock mechanism with is wound electrically. These clocks are usually pretty easy to fix when they stop working. The other type of clock (used in 1974 and up), is a purely electronic clock, with a circuit board, transistors, resistors, etc. Any one of these components can cause these clocks to fail, and I have not found a repair. My solution was to swap a VDO clock into the case of the Tii clock. It retains the original wiring harness, case and clock face, making it look totally stock from the outside, while achieving reliability. The donor VDO clock can be obtained from an E12 5-series or E24 6-series BMW or from a 240 series Volvo. The clock face uses the same mounting holes, so you can use the original Tii face. The VDO movement has different wiring and case mounting layout, so some modifications have to be made to the original case. Also, the Tii clock is about 60mm in diameter and the VDO clock is about 52mm. This will not mater, as the clock movements are about the same size. Let's dive into it... 1) Obtain your replacement clock. The two options that I found work are a Volvo 240 from the 80's or a BMW E12 5-series or E24 6-series from the late 70's and early 80's. Once you receive your clock, connect it to a 12v power supply or car battery and run it for at least 12 hours to make sure it is working properly. Here are a couple of pics of the two options: 2) Dismantle the VDO Clock a) Using a small flat blade screwdriver, I gently started to pry the back lip of the bezel away from the case. I started with a very small screwdriver as getting it started was a little more difficult. After getting it started, I moved to a little larger screwdriver to minimize the marring of the bezel. You will not be re-using the Volvo bezel, so no need to be super carful here. Once I had the edge of the bezel pried away, I was be able to pull it all the way off. b) Once the bezel was removed, I was able to remove the crystal (the clear plastic cover with the adjustment knob coming through it) and its holder. c) On the back of the clock there are 2 small screws that need to be removed. They hold the clock movement in the case. Remove these screws. d) The ground then needed to be unsoldered from the case. With a soldering iron, heat up the solder holding the ground pin to the case in the middle of the brass circle. This should release the movement from the clock case. e) On the front of the clock movement, I removed the hands by gently prying up on the hands, evenly from the sides. They should come off straight up. f) Remove the clock face by removing the two screws. If your VDO clock has it, you can remove the rear foam padding. g) You now have the completely stripped VDO movement. 3) Dismantle the Tii Clock - This part I needed to be careful with, especially removing the black bezel that surrounds the face on the exterior. a) I removed the bezel from the Tii clock, mostly following the same process as with the VDO clock. However, you will need to be more careful since you are re-using the bezel. Once I started prying the bezel, instead of using a twisting motion with the screwdriver, I started prying straight away from the case. This helped to minimize the damage to the bezel. Remember, the ’74 Tii has a large plastic shroud the covers the clock. This will hide most flaws to the side and rear of the bezel. I also did some touch-up when I was finished to help minimize what is seen from the front. Once I had the edge of the bezel pried away, I was be able to pull it all the way off. b) I removed the crystal and its holder. c) On the back of the clock there are 3 small nuts that need to be removed. They hold the clock movement in the case as well as the ground connection on the back of the case. I removed the nuts and then removed the movement from the case. I kept the ground wire spade connector, since I was going to use it later. I was then able to remove the movement from the case. d) I then removed the hands and face, just as above with the VDO clock. e) You now have the clock case, face, bezel and crystal from the Tii clock. Here are the two movements, side-by-side: 4) Next, I attached the Tii cross-hair face to the VDO movement, using the screws from the Tii clock face. Then I attached the white Tii hands, making sure to install the hour hand first, then the minute hand. Install them both at 12 o’clock straight up. 5) With everything dismantled, I made a template of the mounting and wiring holes so I could modify the Tii case. I used a thin, but stiff cardboard, like from a USPS Priority Mail envelope. I had to go back and forth between the Tii case and the VDO case to make sure everything lined up and marked it on the cardboard. I then used a permanent marker to mark the hole and slot on the back of the case. Attached below is a PDF of what I used. It was close, but still required some minor modifications to make sure everything fit just right. 6) I used a combination of a small drill bit, Dremel and a file to drill the extra mounting hole and the opening for the positive wire connection. The second mounting hole lined up just right with the existing hole on the Tii case that is marked “+ -”. 7) I cleaned up the crystal, its holder and the bezel (this might require a light coat of spray paint to make it look nice again). 😎 I used some JB Weld to install the light reflector into the case, centering it over its original mounting holes. 9) I purchased a couple of #6 x ¼” x 1/8” spacers from Home Depot. Everbilt sku number 398491. These will space the movement out the proper distance from the inside of the case. I used a little super-glue to attach these to the top of the treaded screw posts on the back of the movement. 10) I then bent the ground post toward the screw post. I then got a very small ring post terminal and soldered it to the ground post so that the ring was right over the screw post. I also glue a very thin washer over the other spacer on the other screw post, in order to keep the two posts equal. 11) Next, I used a little heat shrink tubing on the bottom part of the 12v positive spade connector on the back of the movement. Leave enough room for the wiring connector. This will protect the connector from accidentally shoring on the case. 12) Insert the movement into the case and use the screws from the VDO case to attach the movement. You will need to assess how everything fits. In order for the time adjustment knob to work properly, and for the clock to look correct in the case, I had to make sure the clock was centered in the case. This required so adjustment to the mounting screw holes and grinding down of the other 2 plastic posts on the movement. Remember to install the spade connector for the ground wire under the screw. 13) Once everything fits and is lined up correctly, I installed the crystal and its holder. Make sure the time adjustment screw works smoothly, otherwise some more adjustment might be needed. 14) I then installed the bezel over the crystal and the case. I carefully used a larger screwdriver to press the lip of the bezel back over the lip of the case. Once done, I touched up the paint on the bezel. 15) I then finished up by installing the clock back in the black shroud. Download the case template here: Case Template.pdf

My tuner solved a problem I was having where it wouldn't rev to redline (8200). Turns out a code from the VTEC sensor was causing issues. I celebrated with a wash and polish.

The whole challenge of moving around the world and bringing a car is a HUGE PITA. Luckily for me I met some beyond generous and supportive car friends here. The range and depth in which I can emerse myself into 02 things is a lot. Jeffery Kok has been the most amazing 02 ambassador helping me get all of my cars (2002, e46 touring & e30 touring) sorted. Although I only have the 02 garaged, bummer. I hate having the e30 outside, but garage space is expensive and in short supply. Thankfully Jeffery had an open garage for me to rent and as soon as my 02 arrived she had a safe space to rest. Not only that, but he helped me install a work bench from extra materials he had from his other shop. Could I have done this by myself? NO. The friendship, help and introduction into the 02 world on this side of the pond has been an absolute pleasure. Sometimes I have to pinch myself that I have my 02 here. At this point in the process (last year) I'm still almost a year out from having my 02 road legal on Dutch plates with the appropriate insurance policy. It was fun though to drive around from time to time on California plates for the first 6 months, but due to some mechanical issues I really didn't get to drive that much and the weather...

Well, one good thing about getting the motor running, it does provide some quick feedback on if you have any leaks. After going through the mis-adventure of the leaking heater core, (turned out to be just the hose clamp to the heater core on the driver's side), I did identify 3 leaks while running the motor. I had an oil leak at the oil filter housing, a coolant leak at the thermostat and a transmission leak at the back of the transmission (output shaft seal, shift selector seal, or both). Two leaks I have successfully fixed and one remains until I have enough motivation and help to complete the task. The oil and the coolant leak were first on my list. I started with the oil leak at the oil filter housing by pulling that part and inspecting all the connections (oil filter, AN fittings to the oil cooler, oil pressure sender for the aftermarket gauge and the oil pressure switch for the oil light on the dash). My inspection uncovered my mistake pretty quickly, I used the wrong type tape to seal the threads on the AN fittings and the oil dissolved it and started leaking. Cleaned up the threads and decided to use a proper thread sealer (Gasoila) to prevent future leaks. I had a "while I was in there" moment and decided to replace the electric oil pressure gauge with a mechanical one. Not because it was leaking or not working, but because it seemed to be always near pegged at 80 Lbs, the limit of the gauge. I found a 52mm mechanical oil pressure gauge from Dyno Racing on Amazon that reads up to 150 Lbs and bought it and the Dorman Universal installation kit. When it arrived, I thought I would just use the original M12 to 1/8" NPT fitting I had for the electric oil pressure sender to install it. I pulled the original adapter from the oil filter housing, coated the threads in Gasoila and screwed it back in. As I was snugging it up, I suddenly snapped in two, leaving the threaded section in the housing. Turns out, it was cheap aluminum and many people had the same issue. I did manage to find a stainless steel version and installed it instead. With all the fittings installed, I reinstalled the oil filter housing, ran the oil hose through the firewall and installed the gauge in the console. Now the coolant leak. I never liked how some of the hose connections to the thermostat fit, lots of strange angles and hose clamps that didn't quite fit square on the fittings. For good measure, I reworked the lower hose from the thermostat to the radiator (longer) and the hose from the thermostat to the water pump (also longer). I replaced some of the clamps that weren't tightening properly with new and that seemed to correct the issues. The thermostat has two M14 fittings for sensors. I had one fitted with the sensor for the 52mm water temp gauge in my console, the other had a plug that I tapped for a ground wire for the other sensor. Well, this arrangement was not leaking, but when I was running the motor, the water temp gauge never seemed to register anything. I decided to replace the electric water temp gauge with the matching Dyno Racing mechanical gauge to see if that would solve my issue. When the gauge arrived, I found 2 issues, the probe was larger than the hole in my M14 adapter and that the connector for the probe was 1/2" NPT. I ended up drilling the M14 to 3/8" NPT hole larger so the probe fit through and then adding a male 3/8" NPT to 1/2" female NPT adapter to secure the temp probe. After everything was installed, I started the car and brought it up to temp (170 F out of the head). This equated to about 155F in the thermostat where cooler water from the bottom of the radiator mixes with hotter water from the head which was now showing on the new gauge. The old electric gauge was probably working, but the scale was such, that 150F didn't move the needle much. I completed the cooling system repairs with the correct radiator cap. After firing up the motor after these repairs, no more oil and coolant leaks, but the motor still idles very high during the warmup cycle. After warm up enrichment is off and the idle control valve is closed, it should idle around 850 - 900 RPM. My motor idles around 1200 RPM when warm and nothing I have done seems to change it significantly. My theory is that I have too much air entering the motor which requires more fuel to get a decent AFR, which drives up the RPM, which increases the advance, which drives up the RPM. Here is a list of things I have done to work on this issue. 1. Verified the duty cycle of the IVC (20% closed, 85% open) 2. Restricted the air flow on the input side of the IVC (rubber stopper with a hole in it) 3. Cleaned the Air Bypass Screws, changed the O-Rings, reinstalled and adjusted with Carbtune (see video) 4. Turned in the idle speed screw (no change) 5. Modified the ignition map to run 3 degrees at idle (did drop the idle slightly) 6. Modified VE table at idle to produce 14.0 - 14.5 AFR 7. Performed smoke test on ITB vacuum ports and noted air leaking from throttle plates (Don't know if this is excessive, but will reset throttle plates at .1mm) Things left to do 1. Pull throttle levers and verify proper length 2. Remove current TPS and adapter (Massive) 3. Reset throttle plates to .1mm 4. Reinstall throttle levers 5. Replace Massive TPS adapter with VAC Motorsports version (adjustable to remove signal delay to ECU) 6. Check and recalibrate Air Bypass screws with Carbtune (if needed) Hopefully, getting me to a reasonable idle speed will be the end result of these changes so I can move on to other tasks, interior, suspension sitting too high, transmission leaks. Thanks for reading! Mark92131

So this week I pulled at a thread and ended up getting a good bit of work done. I got a small relay/fuse box from Amazon and was able to get it mounted and wired. As per my previous post I installed a pair of 120 DB air horns. I am not sure about the town you live in, but traffic here in Toronto is hand to hand combat at best. If you can't be seen, you can be heard. The horns require a dedicated relay and the LED headlight harness requires a dedicated relay for each light. I am not sure why, but after I started stripping the actual wires they were at best 18ga, maybe 20ga. So after i took a look at the way they were wired, I decided to reproduce the wiring in 16ga, just to future proof the system in case I wanted to back to incandescent later. Once I got the hang of the new pliers and the connectors it went fairly smoothly. I specifically wired the relay box so that it could be rotated up for any future additions. It has space for a heavy duty relay that would be ideal for an electric cooling fan, it also has space for a regular relay that I will likely use for the pusher fan that is installed for the A/C. The part that I don't understand is the box came with only half the fuse connectors I need to fill the box, and considering I messed up a couple it left me short. Luckily i ordered a few in case this happened. The size and fit of the relay box seems to work very well in the space. I am cleaning up a 3d printer file so that you can print a mount for the box. I really like the fit and I am confident that it can sneak around the battery. I also installed the positive rail, an 80 amp circuit breaker and two 30amp self resetting circuit breakers, one of which I am feeding the balance of the car with, the other for a spare/fan circuit breaker. It is not super sano, but it is as tidy as I can make it without building one from scratch. The wires can be traced, easily troubleshooted, correctly fused and weatherproofed. I will be securing the main feed positive wire, the main ground cable. Hopefully I can find some time tomorrow to get it done. P.S the green wire will get pulled out and the ground wire is there just in case I need it for the relay box.

First I confirmed rear axle line as this going to match 02 chassis rear axle line. Marked position to chassis and table. This was actually done before last supports was added. Determided center line for both chassis and rear axle line for 02 chassis. This was very time consuming and frustrating task but I needed to get this right. Then it was plasma cutter time. What a fancy tool! Cutting goes so painlessly and gets to places that angle grinder doesn’t. Also it’s very easy to cut wrong. Steady hands I say. Also wincing up and down was slow. No way around this. Lower enough to see where to cut next. Then up to have room to work then down bit more. Repeat. Larger bits was easy but closer I got more slowly it went. I didn’t want to cut too much so that I would need to weld pieces back.

I decided to cut the shell in areas that I won't be needing to make it a) lighter to move b) for blaster to be able to clear rust/goo as much as possible. I build a cage around it so moving and blasting on a fork lift forks wouldn't damage shell any further. It was time consuming to try figure out what I needed from 02 chassis and what would be left from E85 chassis to be able to mate them as seamlessly as possible. Jigpuzzle with optimally just two parts. With jig table levelled I made two, hmm, towers from old rotesserie and some scrap metal to each end of the table so I could winch chassis up & down as needed. Two manual chain winches volunteered for the job. Time to get a plasma cutter

In order to even remotely achive some kind of acceptable end product I needed a firm table to conduct metal work. Near by metal shop was selling a table they no longer needed so I went and grabbed that and had it delivered to my garage. With four trolleys and an iron bar I was able to wiggle it inside. Leveled table with laser and steel shim plates.

My original wiring harness was in pretty bad shape. I had no fuse panel and a lot of brittle wires. It had to be replaced and finding a stock style is difficult and expensive. I’ve used these 21 circuit harnesses from Amazon before. It’s hard to beat for $90. It is a GM style panel with blade fuses. The wires are labeled every foot or so. The bundles are separated by location, ie dash, rear, front. It works well. I mounted the fuse block by using nutserts. After that, I start routing wires. It’s a slow process but I enjoy it. I’ll use factory switches for most things. The ignition switch will not be factory because I don’t have one or the keyed part. Here you can see the fuse block, wiring, wonderful cutouts for a cage, and rear wiring.

A quick tidy up of the rear licence plate holder. I think these is the OEM NLA parts 51185480186 + 51185480185 Tonnes of dirt and much caught up behind it. Just a quick clean today, due for a date with the chromer in a few months.

So I made progress on getting the seats mounted and plates in place ready for final welds to the floor. At this point I was haunted by a little voice that said to remove all the sound proofing. I so to whoever here put that bug in my ear, I thank you. I was planning to just leave the old stuff in, and panel over it, but I am a glutton for punishment. I am glad that I did, I found a weird cut and hole in the side of the transmission tunnel. Not sure what the heck happened. Perhaps it was a hole to refill the 4 speed transmission. It was leaking water into the passenger side footwell. So after using my air chisel to peel all the stuff off, I also found a floor plug that was loose. Thankfully the old sealant kept it waterproof. Here are some picks. Please don't judge my booger welds. I was holding my breath for a couple of them. Also my new magnetic grounding clamp is broken(ish). I will weld the plates to the car using #30 solid core mig with weldgas (80%Argon/20%CO2 mix). I used flux core for the main cross bars where the attach to the plates, as it gets very deep penetration and does well with areas that are not perfectly clean. I was blowing through the welds to the body it with the fluxcore. I used some rust converter I had laying around. It is the blue suff( some sort of nitric acid thing I think) and it left a weird white and rust coloured powder. I will wipe it away and see how it looks. I am not sure if I need to get different stuff. I am not going with the traditional coatings and instead opting for Steelit Stainless steel paint coating. It bonds incredibly well to anything, and you can weld through it, which is perfect as I will likely be working on the tunnel this upcoming winter. In the pictures below you can see where I was adding tabs to hold the wires. A quick patch and I will be back on track. I had to leave the passenger side seat higher to accommodate the battery cables. I didn't want them to run outside and they were too big go down the mid line of the tunnel. The drivers side seat I pushed back about an inch and down about 2 as compared to the passenger side. These seats sit higher and my head was all but brushing the roof on the passenger side, so I had to make it a bit different. I don't think anyone will really notice. P.S the rest of the photos are some E21 hubs that I sold to a fellow 02er. This is what I typically like to do when I sell stuff. I will try to bead blast it and coat it with Steelit, as long as it doesn't take away any of the value. PPS.. Some mind blowing focaccia I did last week. See if you can find it... we crushed the whole loaf at one sitting. Enjoy!

I lost motivation for a little while. I’ve worked on insulating my shop and other projects, but haven’t felt like working on the car. I bought some rust repair panels online and I was very disunity the quality for the price. This discouraged me a little and I lost motivation. Well today I found some motivation. I needed to repair the rocker and front passenger fender. That’s really the worst of the rust. I accomplished that today. The welding will need finished and then grinding and body work, but I’m happy with it. I only have an after picture.

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men" Colossians 3:23 (UPDATE - Next time I will spring for DAP High Temp sprayable upholstery cement, in blue and white can, as the version I chose couldn't handle the 110 degree heat of the summer with windows rolled up.) The door panels on my 2002, like many 45 year old cars by now wee starting to break down. The vinyl looked decent and had minimal fading and no rips but the previous owner had cut into them to install some cheap speakers. Not only did they cut into the perfectly fine door cards but they also chopped a gaping hole in the steel door behind the speakers. This let in moisture as the window seals aged and mold and moisture started to warp and decay the panels. They pulled away from the door and were flopping around. The PO then attempted to fix the problem by sinking a screw into the front corner of the door panel into the sheet metal beneath. Needless to say this looked bad and didn't do much to arrest the breakdown of the door panels. It was time to rebuild and replace... After deciding on what I wanted and even drawing out some ideas, I was ready. I wanted to get rid of the speakers in the doors and add a two tome look similar to older 2002's. I looked for a set of factory door vinyl I could use but wear and fading of old vinyl made me realize the best option was really to just do it the right way and make them custom from new material. Tracing factory door panel onto new panel board. After stripping the factory panels of the vinyl I purchased all the materials I'd need at a local Auto Upholstery Shop "JJ Auto Fabrics". They had great selection, all the materials, great advice, excellent service, and are a locally owned and family operated business close to me. I can't recommend them enough, even if you want to purchase from them online! Automotive upholsterers and Hot Rods have been using the standard 3/32" "Panel Board" for decades so I went ahead and used it. My two layer bonded design would add rigidity to the panel. I picked up black and blue automotive vinyl and 1/8" "Landau Foam" to add some softness to the feel of the door. A blade was used to cut the exterior but the only way to get the holes in the material accurately is to punch them. Harbor Freight had a set for $9. I "nibbled out" the larger holes for the window cranks and handles. Not as pretty but it works! Punches - must-have tools! After punching out the panels I made sure to mount the panels with the clips to check all the holes and edge clearances. Made a few tiny adjustments but so far so good! FYI - mount the board to the steel lip and then RECHECK the holes. Checking and Refining Panel Fit I made a small test panel to try out the color and construction I will use. I'm doubling up the panel board in this design so I can have a two tone door with a center inset panel. I have the landau foam attached to all panels. and I trimmed about 3/16" off the center panel to give room for the overlapping vinyl. (This ended up being too much so I'll make an adjustment on my final version). The black vinyl top and bottom went on easily and a screen door tool stuck it in the creases. With everything all glued up and the center panel mounted I had a good idea of the final look. Test "shadow line" Sanded texture lines I had all the Landau foam glued up and the door panels and insets ready. I had an idea to add some subtle texture in the panels as a nod to the heat-pressed stock vinyl pattern. I made a sample with a sanding drum to shave down a bit of a channel in the landau foam. Came out well enough that I added a few lines to the door panels that will give "shadow lines" hinting at the lines of the original door panels while still retaining a new smooth two tone look. A bit of detail I hope. I went the hot-rod route and made my own trim. I bought rods of half-round 3/8" wide aluminum and then carefully cut them to size, drilled pilot holes in the back, and used an awl to pierce holes in the door cards. Small screws were able to grab into the aluminum holes and "self thread" into it. A belt sander beveled the ends and then everything was sanded to a brushed finish. With aluminum trim Final Assembly is begging for new window handles and armrests so I'll have to do something about that. Rear Door Cards were similar, but different (Hint: Be mindful of the thickness you add to the panel) In order to match the front door cards that were completely redone I removed the rear panels and removed the old vinyl. It was in great condition but I wanted to match up the upholstery to the front. There were a few more complex details to handle in this redo. (*UPDATE- In CA 110 degree heat of the summer the adhesive failed to hold the shrinking vinyl at the two tone seam. The vinyl shrunk back a little and was peeling away slightly. I had to remove them, removed the aluminum trim, and stitched the blue vinyl to the black vinyl and glued back the vinyl. Not what I wanted to do but if I fails again I'll do the seams differently. Also, I will buy DAP high temp upholstery contact cement. It's much better but also expensive.) 1. The panels are shaped with a large concave curve to the panels. - DAP Weldwood did a good job of holding the landau foam and the vinyl together on these complex shapes. I removed the ash trays which were broken and unfortunately the lines still show through. If I redo it I'll get rid of the seams. 2. The two tone look of the front was copied but I had to attach it directly to the panel board. 3. The aluminum trim needed custom bending to fit the complex curves. I had to heat the aluminum half round with a propane torch to remove the annealing to make it more supple and able to bend. I was able to copy the complex shape and drill the holes for screws. All the trim is on and it's ready for final application of the lower pocket. It'll be black and will match the front door's two tone look. Not perfect but I learned a lot and it's good enough to get on the road.

One of my biggest fears on disassembling this car for paint was pulling out the wiring harness. So many connectors and wires, how was I ever going to re-install it correctly. Well, here's how I did it... First off, this car was missing a "shit-ton" of parts (like turn signals) when it arrived on my driveway and the PO had it set up for extras (electric fan, electric fuel pump, etc.) so I spent a lot of time sorting things out. Before I pulled the wiring harness out, I labeled most of what I recognized and guessed on some of the wiring based on where it was on the car (passenger side, firewall, driver side, front grill) or what it was near, (hood release, heater core, etc.). I started with the front and pulled those wires into the cabin, then pulled the wires in the trunk into the cabin, and finally pulled the wires for the dash switches, turn signals, dipswitch, emergency flasher, ignition, interior light, heater fan, and warning buzzer into the cabin as well. I took this mass of cables and connectors and stored it in a box for a couple of years while my car was being painted. A few weeks ago, I opened up that box and laid it out on the carpet of my office with the wires in the approximate locations they would be installed in the car. Thankfully, I had a PDF of a US 12V BMW 1600 that matched my wiring harness. Using a combination of documenting the connections in my notebook and comparing these to the PDF of my wiring harness, I was able to identify all the missing components. There were some hard to find pieces (Delay relay for the Windshield Washer pump, and the Emergency Flasher switch) and others that could order on-line (voltage regulator, and brake light switch). While I sourced these missing pieces, I spent a lot of time rewrapping the harness, fixing bad connectors and correcting the documentation on things I guessed on, (temperature sensor wire). When everything arrived I started the process of re-installing it back in the car. I put the entire harness in the cabin (driver's seat area), and pulled the rear section back into the trunk. I did the under dash stuff next, (dash switches, ignition, heater fan, turn signal and dipswitch stalks). Then finally the passenger and driver side wiring and the fuse box. In the last week I have managed to install and hook up most of the components that were stock to the car, (lights, switches, relays, etc.), but haven't finished hooking up everything because there are major pieces that need to be restored and installed, (heater box, windshield wipers, engine, etc.). Extra Electrical Stuff So I haven't decided what engine will go back in the car M10 or S14, (probably M10 to start), so while I am completing the electrical stuff, I decided to add a power distribution and fused relay box to drive the things I might need going forward. The car originally had the battery mounted in the trunk, but I never liked giving up trunk space, so I decided to go Odyssey 680 and a combination Power Distribution and Relay Box under the back seat. I had the 1/0 Power cable from the original build, so I ran it up the driver's side from the back seat, through the firewall and to a busbar endpoint at the normal battery position. I cut off the cable I didn't need, used it to make a negative cable and put new lugs on both cables. I also ran a switched 12V line from fuse #5 to a Bus Bar under the seat to feed the relays. I am going to set up one of the relays for an electric fan for my Behr 320i radiator and the then run 2 harnesses to the front (fan and ECU) and one to the back (fuel pump). The ECU harness will power a Microsquirt controlling ignition (wasted spark) on the M10 to start. Later I then have the option to add fuel injection to the M10 as a stepping stone to swapping it out for the S14, (which adds additional complexity, oil cooler, exhaust, etc.). More Progress So I didn't like the position of the bus bar I added for the negative trigger feed for the Fan relay. Basically the temperature switch in the bottom of the 320i Behr radiator and the manual switch in the center console will ground the relay and power the fan. I also needed 12V power from the relays controlling the MicroSquirt ECU and the Innovate LC-1 O2 sensor, so I added to more bus bars and moved everything up under the dash along with the MicroSquirt ECU as well. I haven't figured out if I will pull all the sensor wires and EDIS wiring into the cabin or run the ECU wiring out to these components in the engine bay, but I drilled a hole in the firewall that should allow me to go either direction. I also mounted the coil pack and the EDIS controller on the engine compartment side of the firewall and included some new pictures. Mark92131

I took my rusty front subframe over to my brother's house and he welded in the IE subframe reinforcement plate. The front subframe received the same powder coat treatment as the rear, RAL 7043. I had both of them done at Anocote Powder Coating in Mira Mesa. They also did the ST Sway bars and knocked the surface rust off of my rotors and drums for about $300 all in. Assembly was pretty straight forward, new rubber stock bushings, new heavy duty IE control arms, new OEM Idler Arm bushings, DIY Yellow Chromate Zinc coating on the hardware, new IE Sway Bar End Links, and new center link track rod. The steering box wasn't leaking, so I cleaned it up, installed a new rubber steering coupler and remounted it. I disassembled the front struts, gave the tubes and hubs a nice repaint in Krylon Satin Black. I installed new races and wheel bearings and ended up installing new Bilstein HD struts, Eibach springs, new upper strut bearings and fixed front camber plates. I used the POR-15 Caliper Refinishing Kit in Silver. I was a long multi-step process and I was not blown away with the end result, but it should keep them protected and looking nice for a while. I cleaned up the hard brake lines and installed new OEM rubber brake hoses. I won't install the front struts and the new IE Tie Rod Assemblies on the subframe until I'm ready to put it in the car. With those pieces installed, the front subframe is too heavy to move it by myself. My plan is to assemble the subframe on a rolling cart, install the motor and trans in the subframe, roll it under the car on my MaxJax lift and lower the car into position to bolt the subframe back in. The other option would be to assemble the subframe, motor and trans on the floor under the car on the MaxJax, lower the car and then use the engine picker to pull the whole subframe up into position to bolt the subframe back in. We'll see which method wins out in the end. Mark92131

Social distancing isn’t so bad! ? Hope everyone is staying safe and staying healthy! ?

So, in order to get my car finished, I needed to address the beltline trim issue... buy new or restore the original pieces. I had the original set from the car and a spare set that I purchased earlier. Between the two sets, I had enough pieces for a relatively ding-free complete set, but far from something that was shiny and new. I looked into having King of Trim restoring these pieces, but at $60 per piece, $600 seemed pretty steep for used trim. I looked into buying new and the best deal I could find was around $900 from Wallothnesch after shipping. There was also the issue with the new trim curved pieces not fitting properly for the hood and trunk. So here's what I did. I ordered new trim from Wallothnesch for all the straight pieces for about $315 shipped DHL, (the 2 curves pieces for the hood are about $200 each) and decided to restore the curved pieces for the trunk and hood myself. So I did a lot of research on stripping the anodized coating off of aluminum and came up with a plan. First off, I needed something to immerse the long trim pieces in a bath of Caustic Soda (Drain Cleaner)... my solution, a $9.00 inflatable kiddie pool. I positioned the pool outside my house, half on the curb and half on the street to create a pocket for maximizing the depth of the water, Fortunately, I have a storm drain right in front of the house to support emptying the pool after I was done. I filled the pool with 8 Gallons of hot water and 2 cups of Drain Cleaner from Lowes to achieve an approximately 2.5% solution. Even at 2.5%, this stuff will dissolve the skin off your bones in short order so be careful, rubber gloves, eye protection, etc. I popped in all my trim and watched it bubble for 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes were up, I dumped the water down the storm drain, rinsed the pieces with water, refilled the pool with clean water and poured in 8OZ of white vinegar to neutralize the Caustic Soda. This was probably overkill, but I didn't want the Caustic Soda to continue to react with the now bare aluminum. The trim was re-rinsed with water and left to dry in the sun. The dry trim had a smooth dull white finish. Now comes the fun part... I took each piece inside and polished them with Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish. The trim will turn black as the polish does its job and then can be buffed to a shiny mirror finish, just like new. I thought about spray painting the finished trim with Clear, but decided to just wax them to keep the aluminum from oxidizing over time. That way, I can polish and re-wax as needed, without worrying about the clear coat going dull over time. I hope this helps someone else facing the same issues. Mark92131

Continuing on...working on the intercooler plumbing Made this tool to be able to put a bead on the IC piping. Short one from the turbo to the IC I'm getting better and better an aluminum.... From IC to Throttle Body Pulled back a bit BOV placement BOV flange welded on Air filter setup... This car will have AC so it needed a spot for a drier. Using a e30 drier as it is easy to replace if needed. Small bracket..cad first then metal welded in and drier fitted with lower AC line mocked up Then making other AC lines... had to weld to the 318 compressor fitting and add a crimp connector. on the car (mock up compressor) low side mocked up and welded Line from drier to evap in car. Fill port comes up from down low. Low side...this was later changed a bit. hold downs for everything All the lines mocked up Crimped and painted Inside the car crimper crimped installed